Single track was the name of the game. To watch the best riders in the world compete in the first round of the Mountain bike World Cup and then to ride single track, ride some more single track and then do it again!
We left from Cape Town and endured the 20 hour drive up to Pietermaritzburg. We were 6 people and 6 bikes and luggage but luckily we had Eric the storm trooper (iRide Africa’s van) to get us there comfortably. This is us and Eric on one of the many Stop/Go roadworks in the Eastern Cape.
We finally arrived at our base in Howick and the pets were none too pleased to have us there-maybe we just smelled…. a lot.
On Saturday Graham donned his vuvuzela and best Salvo T Shirt and we went to watch the XCO races.
The course had some super fun single track with the added complication of short, steep climbs and some gnarly rock gardens.
The women were first to go off and their skills were very impressive through the single track, not to mention the rock garden.
This lady impressed me, she planted really badly on her last lap and could hardly move her knee, but screamed out that she HAD to finish the race. True enough, she managed to get back on her bike and finish. I spoke to her after the race. She had a cut lip, bruised chin and multiple cuts on her knees- but she was smiling and ready for the next round…hardcore!
The mens race was ridiculously fast. We couldn’t believe at how smooth some of the pros made the rock garden look, especially Nino Schurter. Here’s Burry and Todd Wells, pity Burry had a bad day-maybe still tired from the Absa Cape Epic? Or maybe the 29er wheels were too big? ;D
Here’s a nice photo of the rock garden.
You can find the results of the XCO race here
On Sunday we watched the downhill. Nice course, just a bit flat in the middle. The speeds reached, going through the gully, just before the 16 meter table tops was hard to grasp.
Got this shot of a team practising the course on Saturday.
This alternate line on this part of the course was hard to believe. The normal line is to the left of the rider!
Greg Minnaar was on form and just lost out to Aaron Gwin in the final. Nice for an American rider to be on top again though.
You can find the results of the DH race here
Finally, it was our turn to ride some single track! We had another 4 days of riding the World cup course as well as the legendary Howick and Karkloof trails. We soaked up every piece of single track we could get our tyres on!
Here’s a funny video of our attempts at the rock garden -just to put it in perspective.
Unfortunately I ran out of camera battery for the rest of the trip so have no photos. To quote Kathy it was a whole lot of ” Sleep, Eat, Ride and repeat!”
The weather was perfect and as is customary in Natal, we were caught in one thunder storm on one of our rides- though this one had the added excitement of being a hail storm!
At the end of most rides we’d just join the animals on the driveway and soak up the rays.
Our return drive home was pretty chilly but the Golden gate reserve didn’t disapoint in terms of amazing views. The first frosts of winter were around and we had to take this shot.
Keep posted for details of some upcoming single track trips to Natal!
Leave a comment